Kenai: 08/19/2026 City Council Regular Meeting

Hello everybody, I'd like to call the, the August 19th, 2026 City Council meeting to order. If you're able, please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Clerk, please call the roll. Councilmember Grimme? Yes. Vice Mayor Askin? Here.

Council Member Petty is not here. Council Member Kucena? Here. Council Member Sonnert? Here.

Mayor Naxted? Here. Council Member Daniel? Here. Student Representative Bowling?

Here. You have a quorum.

Okay, Council, next we have the agenda consent agenda. Pleasure of council.

I move that we approve the agenda and consent agenda as presented.

Second, requesting unanimous consent. Okay, moved and seconded. Are, are there any additions to or revisions to the agenda or the consent agenda from council?

Seeing none, would the clerk please call— or please, uh, read the consent agenda items into the record? Thank you, Mayor Nexted. Approval of the regular meeting minutes of August 5th, 2026, brought to you by the city clerk. New business action approval, bills to be ratified, brought to you by the administration. New business action approval, confirmation of mayoral nomination for a partial-term appointment of Sherri Powell to the Beautification Commission, brought to you by Mayor Nakstead.

An introduction of Ordinance Number 3— sorry, 3542-2026, providing for the submission to the qualified voters of the City of Kenai at the regular election to be held on November 3rd, 2026, the question of enacting Kenai Municipal Code Section 7.05.031, Residential Property Tax Exemption to establish a residential property tax exemption in the amount of $75,000, brought to you by Mayor Naxted and Council Member Kassena. Public hearing scheduled for September 2nd, 2026. And that is your consent agenda. Okay, thank you. Excuse me.

Are there any public comments on any of the consent agenda items just read by the clerk?

Seeing no one, unanimous consent was requested. Are there any objections? Seeing no objections, the agenda and consent agenda are approved. We have no administrative reports. We have no scheduled public comments.

So now we have unscheduled public comments. Are there any members from the public that would like to speak to any item not appearing on the agenda? Anyone, please come forward and state your name and generally where you where you reside. All right. Thank you.

Now everybody can hear me. Hello, my name is Mitch Michaud and I live in Soldotna. And here today I represent the Kenai Watershed Forum. I am the acting interim director for the Watershed Forum. Our former director took a job with Cook Inlet Aquaculture, where he started many years ago.

And I'm here just to bring you up to speed on a couple of little things that the watershed is doing. First, I'd like to thank the city for helping contribute to the cost of our baseline water sampling that we do. This is something that's been going on for about 20 years. And it's essentially, it's twice a year that we have volunteers and we go up and down the Kenai River, all the way up from Cooper Landing, all the way down to the mouth of the Kenai. And we take baseline water samples.

Been going on and you can spot trends and of course these are just two points in time and it's a fast-moving river. But it's all done on the same day. Somehow you can derive some data from that. This year it's a little different that there's another sampling element and you've probably heard of a chemical that is used in tires. And this chemical prevents rot and increases wear on the tires, prevents oxidation.

Also occurs in your brake shoes too, the brake linings. And recently in California, some of the studies there have shown that this chemical is lethal to silver salmon smolt. Only silver salmon, which is kind of an interesting point. So, with our silver salmon decline, this might be another thing. A big thing that we do is every year we do the StreamWatch program and this occurs from, again, all the way from Cooper Landing all the way at the Russian, all the way down to the Kenai where we have volunteers.

This is a funded program through the US Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife at the refuge. And we have a series of volunteers that provide education to anglers, inform anglers of their regulations. Non-enforcement. Probably seen them around with their little shirts that say Stream Watch. And they play a big role in being a soft touch to all of our visitors and even our residents.

I used to do that as part of another job I had. One of the things we'd do was keep people off of your dunes, which is always just a struggle in itself. So this past year, we had something called the Dip Net Season booth. They were getting about 50 public contacts a day. They were informing people about the rules, the regs.

Show them how to clean their fish, which is interesting. You think everybody would know that. We don't. We also do stream contacts— cleanups and something called Trashercise. We sponsor that by community events.

They come out and you can get exercise by helping pick trash on the weekends. I did that many years with the ski team too, by the way. That was another thing we were doing. We got a number of things. Typically, they'll pick anywhere from 100 to 400 pounds of trash.

When they're doing that. And I have to add, it's not just the Watershed Forum. There's a lot of groups. So anyway, I just want to tell you that we are active in the watershed. And we appreciate your help.

And if you have any questions, feel free to contact us. Our office is up on the banks of the Kenai, right next to Soldotna Creek Park. Thank you, Mitch. Any questions? I want to say I appreciate what the Watershed Forum does.

And that data is very useful. To us being at the bottom of the river here. It all flows downhill. It all does. And also, you know what they say about interim directors, right?

Yes, I know. My wife was one at the college. Okay. She's still there. She's permanent now.

Okay, well, so maybe we'll be seeing you again as director. Okay, well, we'll see. All right, thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Is there anybody else that would have any— that would like to speak to the council on any item that Not being on the agenda.

So that brings us to public hearings. The first public hearing is Ordinance Number 3537-2026, increasing estimated fiscal year 2026 revenues and appropriations in the general fund, police department, and accepting a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation pass-through, the State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, for traffic enforcement Overtime expenditures brought to us by administration. Vice Mayor Askin, um, I move that we enact Ordinance Number 3537-2026. Council Member Grady seconded that. Yep.

I think you're right, your mic was off. Oh, and then it's on. Okay, I seconded it. Thank you. Is there anybody from the pub— the public that would like to speak to Ordinance 3537-2026?

Seeing no one, bring it back to council. Council, any comments? We would like to thank the police department for requesting and receiving the $8,331.18 to cover the traffic overtime. And I know that takes, that takes some effort, and, uh, and here it is. Thank you.

No further discussion. Clerk, please call the roll. Vice Mayor Askin. Yes. Council Member Kucena.

Yes. Council Member Sonnart. Yes. Mayor Knoxstad. Yes.

Council Member Daniel. Yes. Council Member Grimme. Yes. Student Representative Bowling.

Yes. You have 6 yes votes. Ordinance number 3537-2026 is enacted. Thank you. Now we are on item E2, ordinance number 3538-2026, increasing estimated fiscal year 2026 revenues and appropriations in the general fund, police department accepting a grant from the Alaska High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area for drug investigation overtime expenditures, brought to us by administration.

Pleasure of council, Vice Mayor Askin. I move that we enact ordinance number 3538-2026.

I second that. Perfect, thank you. Is there anybody from the general public that would like to speak to Ordinance 3538-2026?

Seeing no one, bring it back to council. Council discussion?

Seeing no comments, I'd like to reiterate what I said before, uh, thanking the police department for, uh, requesting and receiving the $1,094.24 for the drug trafficking overtime, and that is very helpful once again. So if there's no further questions, please call the roll. Councilmember Kucena? Yes. Councilmember Sonnart?

Yes. Mayor Naxted? Yes. Councilmember Daniel? Yes.

Councilmember Grimme? Yes. Vice Mayor Askin? Yes. Student Representative Bowling.

Yes. You have 6 yes votes. Ordinance number 3538-2026 is enacted. Thank you. Next we have item E3, Ordinance 3539-2026, amending Kenai Municipal Code Section 1420.030, Establishment of Zones and Official Map, to add Airport Light Industrial.

Brought to us by administration. Measure of counsel. Vice Mayor Askin. I move that we enact Ordinance number 3539-2026.

Second. Is there anybody from the general public that would like to speak to Ordinance 3539-2026?

Seeing no one, bring it back to council. See, we do have an amendment on page 13 of the packet.

I think it's inserting a date.

Vice Mayor Askin, are you ready? I move that we amend the fourth whereas by filling in the blank with the word enact. The new whereas after amendment would read, whereas the Planning and Zoning Commission held the public hearing on August 12th, 2026, and recommended the city council enact this ordinance, and comma I'll second. Request unanimous. Any further discussion on the amendment?

Unanimous consent was requested. Are there any objections? Seeing none, we have now Ordinance 3539-2026 as amended. Any further discussion?

Uh, Mr. Daniel. Thank you, Mayor Naxted. Perhaps a quick overview from the city manager or the planner on what, what exactly we're doing here for the public. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Daniel, and, um, I'm going to make a statement, then I'll let Kevin correct anything that I say incorrect. But in 2016, by ordinance 2884-2016, City Council created the Airport Light Industrial Zone.

It was added to the zoning table of the city. Um, what it wasn't added to, and I think it was just an oversight, was Section 1420.030A, which lists all available zones within the city. This ordinance is just more of a cleanup that we will be adding Airport Light Industrial Zone to that list, um, so that it's included in the list of all available zones within the city. Um, so I would characterize this as just a cleanup.

Any further discussion? Daniel. Thank you, Mayor Nackstead. I appreciate the administration's efforts in bringing this to our attention and continuing to go through and cleaning up zoning and finding things like that as, uh, as needed. So please keep up the good work.

Thank you for all your efforts. Yeah, thank you. That took 10 years. It's probably buried down in there somewhere though. Thank you very much.

Any further discussion? Seeing none, clerk, please call the roll. Council Member Sonnert?

Yes. Mayor Knoxstad? Yes. Council Member Daniel? Yes.

Council Member Grimme? Yes. Vice Mayor Askin? Yes. Council Member Kucena?

Yes. Student Representative Bowling? Yes. You have 6 yes votes. Ordinance number 3539-2026 is enacted.

Thank you. That brings us to item E4, Ordinance Number 3540-2026, accepting and appropriating a gift distribution from Meals on Wheels of America to the Kenai Senior Center, brought to us by Administration. Pleasure of Council, Vice Mayor Askin. I move that we enact Ordinance 3540-2026. I second.

Is there anybody from the general public that would like to speak? To Ordinance 3540-2026. Seeing no one, bring it back to Council. City Manager Eubank, if you would. And I see that we have Kathy Romaine from the Senior Center here.

She might have a few words that she wants to, because I know that they put all the effort into this. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of Council. Um, I definitely would ask Kathy, um, to give a little bit, but this is basically a $10,000 donation from Meals on Wheels of America to support the Senior Center's nutrition program.

I believe there was a criteria why we were eligible for this. I'll let you speak to that, Kathy. Meals on Wheels of America, earlier this year, there's a philanthropist named Mackenzie Scott. Unfortunately, I've never heard of him before, but fortunately he gave $70 million to Meals on Wheels of America. And what they decided to do at that point, they sent out a benchmark survey asking us as members, uh, where we were compared to COVID years, what we're looking like, what our greatest issues would be, and cost-prohibitive things.

If we have people on a waitlist— fortunately, the Kenai Senior Center has never had to implement a waitlist, which was very positive. And then they turned around, and after this was done, providers of good standing who did turn in their surveys were awarded $10,000, and as a gift distribution came as a surprise to us but a very pleasant one.

Thank you. Any further discussion, comments? Councilman McGraney? Okay, um, thank you for doing the survey. We appreciate it.

That was a great surprise, and all the other things you do.

I just wanted to say, I think, I mean, I think we're all in agreement that Meals on Wheels is a great program service that's offered to our seniors. I, I've had personal experience with Meals on Wheels recently, not in this community. My dad lives in North Pole. He's in his 80s and lives independently, and we were able to get him set up with Meals on Wheels, and it has been a game changer for my dad in regards to his ability to remain independent and meet his nutritional needs. So I know he's not in our community, but I just want to say that that is an example of somebody who's being personally served by this program in another Alaskan community.

So I'm especially grateful for the work that you guys continue to do and of course the Fairbanks Senior Center that's been feeding my dad. But thank you.

Any further discussion? Kathy, thank you very much for all your efforts down at the senior center and your staff in acquiring this. I know you had to fill out paperwork and it— you have to do it and it worked. Thank you. Go ahead.

I do believe it was the easiest quote grant I've ever done. So you, you could have embellished, I mean, a little bit, but, but you had to do it. If you hadn't done it, we wouldn't be here. So thank you very much. $10,000 And it's going to a great cause.

If there's no further discussion, uh, Clerk, please call the roll. Mayor Naxted? Yes. Council Member Daniel? Yes.

Council Member Grimme? Yes. Vice Mayor Askin? Yes. Council Member Cassana?

Yes. Council Member Sonnart? Yes. Student Representative Bowling? Yes.

You have 6 yes votes. Ordinance number 3540-2026 is enacted. Thank you. Now we are on item E5, Resolution 2026-55, Authorizing a contract for digester pumping and disposal, brought to us by administration. Pleasure of council.

Vice Mayor Askin. I move that we adopt Resolution 2026-55 and request unanimous consent. I'll second. Thank you. Moved and seconded.

Are there any— is there anybody from the general, uh, public that would like to speak to Resolution 2026-55? Seeing no one, bring it back to council. Council discussion?

Council Member Daniel. Thank you, Mayor Naxted. A couple things. I'm curious, and looking at this, I know this part of the project, but it was mentioned that, uh, we went this direction to save a few— save some money from the original quote for the digester replacement. Do we have an approximate savings going this direction versus doing with the project, what the difference was.

City Manager Eubank. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Daniels. I'm going to defer to Lee a little bit. I think some of the savings is an estimate because I don't know that we know the exact quantity. Um, but go ahead, Lee.

I don't have the exact figure in front of me, but I believe it was about $200,000 that we deducted out of the contract amount for the construction project for us to handle it in-house. So that includes— part of that is obviously going to here for the, the pumping portion of it, but we'll be doing some portion with our staff in-house as well. Awesome. Thank you for doing that. Appreciate it.

Any further discussion? Nanim's consent was requested. Are there any objections? Seeing none, Resolution 2026-55 is adopted.

Next, we are on item 6, Resolution 2026-56, authorizing the renewal of the city's Castle software licensing and support and corresponding purchase order for accounting, payroll, and human resources operations, brought to us by Administration. Pleasure of council, Vice Mayor Askin. I move we adopt Resolution 2026-56 and request unanimous consent. I second that. Thank you.

Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak to Resolution 2026-56? Seeing no one, bring it back to council. Council discussion? Council Member Gremmick. I just wanted to point out that I, um, was very appreciative in the memo that the finance director pointed out why it was a good idea to keep doing this, and specifically in regard to use of staff time, to not need to be retrained, not have to incur any transition costs.

Um, I, I appreciated that being mentioned in this memo, um, and I just, I wanted to take a second to point that out. I think it was important information that sometimes we don't get, and that's, that information is important to me in making these decisions, so I appreciate that.

Very good. Any further discussion? Unanimous consent was requested. Are there any objections? Seeing none, Resolution 2026-56 is adopted.

That brings us to Item E7, Resolution Number 2026-57, authorizing the city manager to enter into a grant agreement with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District to support Community Access to the Kenai Central High School Swimming Pool, brought to us by Administration. Pleasure of Council, Vice Mayor Raskin. I move that we adopt Resolution 2026-57 and request unanimous consent. I'll second. Okay, moved and seconded.

Is there anybody from the general public that would like to speak to Resolution 2026-57?

Mr. Lyon, please come forward.

Good evening, Mayor Naxted, members of the council. My name is Kevin Lyon. I am the Planning Operations Director for the Kenepensboro School District. I am a Sterling resident, and I'm here to speak to you in support of Resolution 2026-57. Superintendent Holland is unable to come today, so I'm here speaking on his behalf and for the district.

I would like to express our appreciation from the district for your consideration of Resolution 2026-57. Kenai Central High School pool is a valuable asset to the community that serves students, families, and residents throughout the city of Kenai and surrounding areas. The district remains committed to maintaining community access to the facility during the fiscal year 2027, including lap swim, open swim opportunities, swim instruction Saturday rentals for community groups and individuals. Uh, the request contribu— or the requested contribution will help offset rising utility costs for associated with operating the pool and will directly support the continued operations of the, of this service. Um, I'm going to say this partnership between the City of Kenai and the district demonstrates a shared commitment to providing, uh, opportunities and promoting water safety and ensuring that this important community asset, uh, remains available for the residents.

We respectfully ask your support of Resolution 2026-57, and thank you for your continued, uh, partnership with serving the community. Thank you for that and being here. Are you available for any questions council may have? Council?

Council Member Gremy. Sorry, I have several, um, I know, no surprise, right? Um, I want to preface my questions by saying I, I support the need for our pool— pools in general to stay open, but I have some questions because I have some concerns about the relationship that would be created between the city and the school district if, if this were to pass. Um, so my first question is, did the district also seek funding from Kenai Peninsula Community Pools because according to their website, they collected a large amount of money from Peninsula residents, and their intention was to use that money to help keep pools open, starting with the Sohai Pool. Did the district contact them or work with them to try to get any funding from them?

We have been in contact with the group for the Peninsula pools, and we're working hand in hand to continue the discussion with them. They did not have funds available immediately to do that, even though they've quote-unquote raised funds, but they've not been made available to the district at this time. Okay, um, in the letter, um, from Mr. Holland, um, the fees that were lined out what the district would be charging were more than what we were told the Piranhas would be charging if if they had taken over operation of the pool. Can you help me understand why?

The fees that are identified there, the, the group was still working on trying to figure out what those fees would be, and so these are realistic to try to get us through to the end of the fiscal year for the funds available to the location in Kenai. Okay, since you're requesting funds specifically from the city of Kenai, municipality of Kenai, The letter from Mr. Holland does not provide increased access for— or reduced rate access for City of Kenai residents, though we would be paying more money that other municipalities, people from other parts of the peninsula would not be contributing. Is that something that would change? Why or why not? I think that would be with the agreement, the agreement with the city manager and with the superintendent on that point.

If what's there. That was what the letter we requested, and what it would matter on a response. Okay. Mr. Holland's letter and your statements highlight the educational importance of a pool and access to a pool, especially as we know water deaths in Alaska are significant. I'm curious why that educational importance seems to be leveraged for the Kenai Pool but was not for the Sohi Pool.

There are two pools in Soldotna, and one is in Sohai and one is at Skyview, or in the Soldotna area. And Skyview will remain open for Soldotna, but not for Soldotna High School students to use for swimming class. I believe Soldotna High School students will be coming to join the, the team over at Kenai to have a stronger Peninsula residents in, uh, swimming, right? For the swim team. But for swim class as part of physical education, they would be going to Skyview.

They are going to go over there. Yep. Okay. Um, if with— if the city does not approve these funds, would the pool— would you keep the pool open?

I won't speak for the superintendent on this point right here, but without those funds, I don't believe the pool has the resources to stay open. Okay. And then my final question was, my understanding was the district received money from the state to help cover increased utility costs across the board in addition to BSA funds. Are any of those funds available to fill this utility gap instead of seeking funds from the city? At this time, those funds had not been distributed by the state, and so there's actually a meeting in the first part of September to see how those could be distributed from the state of Alaska.

Okay, thank you.

Any further questions? Council Member Grimm? No. Council Member Daniel? Thank you, Mayor Nexter.

Just one quick one. Um, the letter notes for fiscal year '27. Uh, are there any— I mean, I know we don't have crystal balls, but do we have any thoughts for what '28 would look like, or if there's something we could continue, or is it too early to tell? Right now, it's— it's— I'm going to say it's too early to tell. I know we're looking to make sure everything's sustainable, and so we're working with those— the groups that are around to try to get this so it's something we don't have to deal with every single year with the school board.

And a follow-up on that, so would the district, do you think, maintain the responsibility, or is the district trying to get this to another party to manage? In the future? Both.

Any further questions of Mr. Lyon?

Thank you very much for being here tonight. We might even need you in a little bit, so just— if you don't leave. Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak to council on this item?

Seeing no one, we'll bring it back to council. City of Madgebury, UBank. I know this has been a long haul for you to get to this point, and I thought maybe you might want to give us an overview and, and any other information that might be appropriate.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Um, you know, this all started, uh, probably last June or July when the school district passed their fiscal '26 operating budget and direction was given. These are my words, I don't know if they're precisely correct, but direction was given to the school district administration that the, um, you know, to try to find community solutions to keeping these pools open because they planned on closing them at the end of the fiscal year.

So at that time, staff here, council gave direction to the administration to try to engage in those conversations and try to find a community solution. We started seeking information last August. That progressed, I think, finally with a presentation from the school district administration in January that kind of— Mayor Machicki's office. And there were predominantly kind of 3 different areas of concern. One, you know, with management of it One being with the long-term maintenance of it and the last piece being kind of the personnel situation there.

And I think Mayor Machicki getting involved in, you know, assuring that maintenance would continue in the facilities provided they stayed in control of the district, I think was a big help in moving these projects forward or this process forward. So yeah, it has been. We worked, I think, collaboratively with the swim club. And, um, you know, at the end of the day, I think, um, they, you know, they understand. I think their fees are going up, I think, relatively substantially.

I want to say they pay $35 an hour now. I think those numbers are going to like $90 an hour per hour for the club to use the pool. But they seem to be supportive of this proposal by the district and You know, I think this, this is a solution to keeping the pool open. Um, I, I share some of Council Member Girmay's concerns. Um, you know, it is a one-year solution.

Um, I, I hate to see us back here next year with that number being substantially higher or something to keep the pool open. Um, I don't necessarily think it's the city's responsibility for this, but I think it's, it's good to be— try to be part of a solution in these cases. But that would be an area of concern. Is that this is just a 1-year deal. And, um, but other than that, I'm happy to try to answer any questions.

I think we've, as a city, have just always tried to facilitate the conversation and to potentially be part of a solution, but not the solution.

Any questions? Is it possible to add a caveat that this money would be made available to the district after we were offered some assurances. I don't know, with a time frame, 60 days or whatever, that the Kenai Peninsula Community Pools group that collected a huge amount of money, or reportedly collected a huge amount of money in this area, to go towards this exact scenario, that their funds aren't available and that that the utility money in addition to the BSA from the state, it can— that that money isn't going to be received timely enough to resolve this issue for the district. Can we add caveats to this for those two things? Mr. Eubank.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Grier. I think we can add, you know, whatever caveats you want. I would just caution that, one, the district would have to agree to them. Two, I want to make sure that they're kind of measurable and, and, and, um, yeah, I guess just measurable and definable. I mean, some of the things you just described are, are very open to interpretation, and I think those sometimes are where we get into trouble in agreements is how people interpret things differently.

So I'd want that to be very, very clear what what is meant by, you know, those funds become available timely. I don't, you know, I mean, I would want to set a deadline rather than to say something like timely, but we can absolutely put caveats in any agreement, um, or attempt to.

Any further discussion? Nenup's consent was requested. Are there any objections? Seeing none, Resolution 2026-57 is adopted. Thank you, Mr. Lamb.

Now we are on Item E8, Resolution 2026-58, redirecting previously appropriated capital funds in the Vintage Point Improvement Capital Project for the repair and replacement of windows, brought to us by Administration. Pleasure of Council, Vice Mayor Askin. I move that we adopt Resolution Number 2026-58 and request unanimous consent.

I'll second. Moved and seconded. Is there anybody from the general public that would like to speak to Resolution 2026-58?

Seeing no one, I'll bring it back to council. City Manager Eubank, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. So, um, This year, staff have discovered some water damage that's occurring. It's isolated, I think, to 2 apartments— 3, 3 apartments, that's right, 3 stories.

So it's isolated to 3 apartments over there. We've had some water intrusion that's causing some associated rot and things that need to be fixed. Staff have worked with our architect to come up with a scope of work to do the fix. What Resolution 2026-58 does is it's going to redirect funds that were previously appropriated for the kitchen and bathroom remodel project that we're still working on design for. So we'll divert some of those funds to affect these repairs.

It does say window replacement. Those windows will be being replaced, but it's also to fix some water damage that was— has also occurred. So this will redirect $75,000 of those project funds to a project to complete this work. And Mr. Fry, did I miss anything?

Okay, saw a thumbs up. Any questions of the city manager or any further discussion? Seeing none, unanimous consent was requested. Are there any objections? Seeing none, the resolution 2026-58 is adopted.

Moving on, we have under item G no unfinished business. Brings us to item I, commission reports. First is Council on Aging. Vice Mayor Askin. Thank you, Mayor Nixted.

Um, Council on Aging did not meet in August because of no agenda items. Their next meeting is September 10th. Thank you. Airport Commission, Council Member Sonnart. Thank you, Mayor.

Next, there was no August meeting, it was canceled, and I'm not sure the September date. It would be the second Thursday.

Thank you. And Parks and Recreation Commission, Council Member Grimme. There was no meeting last month. There is a work session scheduled for August 27th that will be a facility tour. And the next meeting is scheduled for September 3rd.

Thank you. Now we have Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilmember Daniel. Thank you, uh, Mayor Naxted. Uh, not a ton on the agenda, uh, just because of how things had to get reshuffled.

Um, they only had one thing, a resolution, PZ-2026, uh, in Thompson Park.

Preliminary replat, there we go, and that was approved. Uh, and then the other thing that we talked about tonight, and we also approved it, was the, uh, the zoning code for the adding airport light industrial to the zone list, and we approved that. And that was it. The next meeting is next Wednesday. Thank you.

Next we have beautification commission. Adam Clerk, do you have a report?

Their next meeting— I'm sorry, is for— I thought I had it and then I got distracted. September 9th, I believe. Hold on. Yep, September 8th. Sorry, September 8th is the next beautification meeting.

Thank you very much. I think I put you on the spot there. So that brings us to the report of the mayor. Just have a couple of things. I want to remind everybody that Industry Appreciation is coming up this Saturday, 12 to 4.

Hopefully the weather will hold. It's always a lot of fun. I know you've all been there. And bring your family. A few other things to think about is I think school started today.

Saw buses with kids. And I saw Mr. Bolling down there nodding. Watch out for, watch out for the kids along the road. And there's a bunch of new drivers out there, and, uh, you know, it's that time of year, so please do that. And hopefully everybody was able to vote in the primary that was concluded yesterday.

And the, uh, the next thing I like to, to do from bowling— you don't have to— but from here, I just want to thank you for your service over the last year. It's, if it's a one-year, uh, hitch for the, for the student representative. And we have for you a certificate of appreciation, and it says in part, the certificate of appreciation is awarded to Josh Bowling in recognition for exemplary service as student representative of the city council from October 2025 to September 2026. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure and an honor having you here on the council with us.

So, yeah.

It's okay to blush a little bit. Okay. Oh, the other thing I'll say is it's almost Mr. Bloom's birthday, so I want to wish Mr. Bloom a birthday. It's on my calendar. So, it wouldn't be the same at the next meeting because it would have, you know, so, Now we have administrative, administrative reports.

Uh, City Manager Eubank. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Just a couple things to report. On the staffing and recruitment front, we are pleased to welcome two new employees to the city. Uh, Nicholas Wade Bowman is a lateral police officer, um, coming to the city, and Jacob Nagel is a new, uh, utility operator that'll be joining the city.

Uh, the finance department has also made a conditional off a conditional offer of employment for their newly authorized system administrator position. So look forward to that becoming final. And the city is currently recruiting for a part-time recreation center attendant. Looks like there's multiple of those. Temporary equipment operators for winter operations, both I think in the street department and the airport, is still open.

And I, I think there is now another opening in the for a utility operator as well. They'll be trying to fill, um, couple of events, um, bring up, uh, the city's Public Surplus Auction is currently active. It went— it opened on August 9th. It will close, uh, August 23rd, which is Monday at 5:00 PM. Uh, there's definitely, definitely a variety of surplus items including office furniture, vehicles, and equipment.

Um, and that are available. And, uh, for more information, you can see the city's website or publicsurplus.com is where those items can be viewed. Um, remind council the Kenai area-wide Old-Timers Luncheon is scheduled for, um, not this Friday but the following Friday, the 28th, um, at the Kenai Senior Center. This annual event celebrates the peninsula's history and provides an opportunity for longtime residents to to reconnect. Reservations are requested through the Kenai Senior Center, so make sure you reach out to them.

I did want to give a little update on Denaina Point Estates. The city, we did execute the MOU authorized by council with Tidewater LLC for replatting and future development of Denaina Point Estates, and Tidewater LLC did execute their purchase agreements for the remaining parcels. And we're looking forward to the replat and future development with Tidewater LLC. Uh, lastly, I want to give council an update. We did receive word today, um, that Wildwood Drive repaving is, um, right now we're still scheduled for completion this fall.

They're looking at timing of repaving of that. Likely around Labor Day weekend, before or after, we're not exactly sure of that timing, but we are coordinating with the state right now on detours associated with that project. It's gonna be a quick project, it's 4, they're estimating 4 days.

So not a, hopefully not a lot of inconvenience, but I think whatever little bit of inconvenience there's gonna be, going to be— it way outweighs the, the drive down, um, Wildwood Drive. So looking forward to getting that project completed and really appreciate, uh, the state and DOT's working with us on that. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Any questions of the city manager?

I have one. If you want to elaborate on what's going on at the airport, a lot of asphalt trucks and they're not running now. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor, council members. So, uh, that project, the, the runway reconstruction project, um, I believe is a little ahead of schedule at this point. Um, they had some great weather and they were able to get, uh, both lifts of paving.

So that all 150-foot wide by 7,850 feet has been repaved, uh, in two lifts. So, and, uh, now that Asphalt needs to sit for a minimum of 30 days and cure before they can go out and grind the grooves into it for the aircraft. So, but that project is still, I think it's a little ahead of schedule at this point, so that's good news. There's still a lot of work to do. The next big hurdle will be the actual asphalt markings that will have to take place after the grinding.

So we'll need another bit of weather so they can get all the stripes and everything painted on it. But I think the project's coming along nicely. QAP's been a, I think a good contractor to work with. When we've contacted them about any issues, they've sent street sweepers out, cleaned up things, and they've been pretty responsive. So it's, uh, I think it's been working well.

Thank you. If I could follow up on just another airport question. We did have a lot of concern earlier in that project about the instrument approach. Not existing, the city paid for one. Has that worked out okay with our carriers here?

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. It has. I— there were definitely some tenuous moments in there, but the approaches are now fully in place. They now are available after— before sunup and after sundown, so they are fully operational. And I I don't think any of our carriers has seen any impacts of the project on— related to those approaches.

So I'm happy to report that, and I'm glad some of our carriers out there were extremely busy this summer. We saw employment numbers above what we've seen in the past, and so I'm really happy that it didn't impact their operations.

Any further questions? City Manager? City Attorney? Thank you, Mayor Naxted, members of council. I don't have anything to report, but I'm happy to answer any questions if anybody's got any.

City Clerk? Thank you, Mayor Naxted. Candidate filing period is open. It closes on August 31st at 4:30 PM, and we are actively recruiting for election workers this year, so And I am available for questions. Any questions of Clerk Sanner?

Saying none, that gets us down to additional public comments. Are there any members from the public who would like to address the council at this time on any subject at all? Anybody online? Okay, saying no one. We covered all the bases.

That gets us to council comments. Student rep Bowling, you're up. For the last time, huh? Good evening, Mayor Nexted and council members. I'd like to start by congratulating the KCHS football team for their 52-6 point win against Homer last week.

Starting it off pretty strong. Volleyball, cross-country running, cheer, and swimming are also all underway now. Recognizing our students also reminds me of how important it is to have local leaders who are willing to listen to them and invest in our community. I've been fortunate this year to have a front row seat to that, and I'd like to take a moment to thank the members of this council for the way you welcome me and allowed me to be part of that work. Mayor Naxted and City Manager Eubank, I'd like to thank you for your warm welcome onto the council and for giving me the opportunity to participate in conversations regarding students where students usually aren't able to present their concerns.

Member Grimme, the KC HS leadership class appreciated you coming to discuss local leadership and how you got involved. The whole class loved what you had to say, and as with all of our local leaders who have spoken to the class, you never ran out of questions. Member Kusuna, thank you for coming as well. During your visit, as a class, we discussed what students think the greatest issues in our community are. What meant most to me is that seeing that some of those ideas, particularly the road and sidewalk improvement projects, made their way into the capital improvement plan.

That showed me that listening to the youth can actually turn into action. Vice Mayor Askin, I also really appreciated you coming into our class and sharing your leadership story. It showed our students that leadership doesn't start with just a position, but by getting involved. Council members Daniel, Petty, and Sonar, thank you for welcoming me into this council. I've learned a lot simply from listening to you.

We'd like to have you come to the school though, still. City Attorney Bloom, I'd like to thank you once again for volunteering as a guest speaker at our yearly KPBSD High School Leadership Conference. City Clerk Sainer, I'd like to thank you for your kindness and help over the last 2 years. I'm not sure if I would have made it through my first airport commissioner meeting without being shown the ropes by the very best. Thank you all once again, and I look forward to seeing the good work the council continues to do.

Wow, you're hired. Thank you. Councilmember Gremme.

I just want to remind everybody that, as Mr. Bolland mentioned, that football and volleyball are underway. Uh, there's another football game, two, JV and varsity, Friday, 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock, and KCHS volleyball on Saturday at 11, 12, 12:01. So pretty good weekend of Cardinal sports. If you don't have anything else more pressing to do, I will be sitting in the stands freezing. So thank you.

Councilmember Kucena.

Not much. I just wanted to say thanks, Josh. It's been great having you here. Thanks for inviting all of us to your class to listen to your government class. I think that was, I don't know, I think it was probably more fun for me than it was for your class.

And so, uh, appreciate it. Uh, I want to thank the, the election staff who worked, uh, on— shoot, I've lost track of the days. Tuesday it was. No, it wasn't. It was just yesterday, right?

Of course. Anyway, thank you for doing that. Uh, I'm always thankful for those who sign up to do things that I do not do. So, uh, and then congrats to Sherry Powell for the part-time position on beautification. So that's it for me.

Thank you. Uh, Council Member Daniel, a couple quick things. Um, let's see here. First of all, Josh, thank you. It has been fun.

Hope you come back. So, and, uh, let's see here. I really appreciate, um, Mr. Lyons coming tonight to testify on behalf of the district. About the pool agreement. I love a good partnership, especially the one that's very important to the community.

So I really appreciate the district working with city administration, we all coming together to find something that, that's, that's a win for the community. So thank you, thank you for doing that. And I know it's when you took a team, so thank you for on the district side and our— and the city staff side. Also want to say I do appreciate the work we did today at the work session with the with the property tax exemption. Looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

I think we had a good discussion, a lot of, uh, good points to go into that, and I'm just glad that this body can work together on those type of things. So thank you, everybody. And it's the first day of school, as was mentioned earlier, so watch out for all those kiddos and have a great night. Thank you. Council Member Soenart.

Thank you, Mayor Nextit. No specific comments per se, just general well wishes for everyone, and I look forward to seeing all of you again down the road.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Askin. Uh, thank you, Mayor Nexted. Um, thank you, Student Representative Bowling. I hope that you apply to serve with us again. It's been a pleasure.

Um, I appreciated all the information that we got on the exemption tonight. It's a really good discussion, and I learned a lot more.

Saturday is Industry Appreciation Day. If you can get out, hopefully it'll be nice. And Saturday night is the food bank fundraiser, if you can attend. And that's all I have. Thank you.

Moving on, we have no executive session, no pending items, and it brings us to adjournment. Having no further business, the body is adjourned. Thank you.